My Ever After
by clouisewise
Summary: Sequel to my Lauren/Tamsin story, Unforeseen. How will life change for the doctor and the detective after the happenings in Valhalla?
1. Chapter 1

Look! I did it! I did the thing and it only took a decade!

Welcome to "My Ever After", which is a working title for my sequel to Unforeseen and may very possibly change in the future. This is going to pick up more-or-less right where Unforeseen left off, and begin to delve into the lives of Lauren and Tamsin now that they are_ both_ fae. To properly understand everything that goes on, you should probably read Unforeseen first - that that's just a humble suggestion from me. 0:)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Obvi.

Without further adooooooo...~

* * *

"You know, Tamsin", Lauren said cautiously as she was blindly lead through what she can only assume is the corridor leading to her girlfriend's apartment, judging from what she could recognize on the drive here and the distinct sounds of street cars scraping along and slow-moving foot traffic outside, "last time I was taken somewhere without knowing what was going on, I ended up in _Valhalla_ with quite a few angry valkyries trying to _kill __me_."

Tamsin cringed at the accentuation on the word _kill_, happy that Lauren couldn't see her reaction and was too engrossed in placing each foot solidly on the unseen ground to hear her sharp intake of breath. The happenings of Valhalla, and the physical strains that those stressful few days had put on them (Lauren was still favoring her right arm over her left, and Tamsin's jaw seemed as if it was holding onto it's large purple bruise as long as it could), were still fresh in the couple's minds. The two of them had hardly even _begun_ to talk about the possible mental and emotional repercussions of the whole ordeal – not that Tamsin was in any kind of rush to discuss them. Despite her discomfort, however, Tamsin forced an invisible smile in the doctor's direction and gently gave Lauren's shoulders a reassuring squeeze.

"Don't worry, doc. I promise I'm not going to drag you to a mythological plane then steal away your humanity, if _that's _what you're worried about."

Lauren smiled to herself now, letting out a mock sigh of relief and playfully shoving her shoulder back to connect softly with Tamsin's.

"Oh, well at least there's _that_."

Tamsin continued to lead her girlfriend up the stairs, carefully escorting her up the steps without ever removing her hands from the slender shoulders. When they finally reached Tamsin's (brand new, heavy, and reinforced) door, she quickly leaned forward to unlock and open it before raising her hand to untie the secure knot of the bandana over Lauren's eyes with nimble fingers and stuff it in the doctor's own back pocket. Slowly, her eyes opened, and she blinked several times to adjust to the sudden light flooding her vision. Once she had adjusted, the doctor leaned into the door way a little bit to look around the large, open floor plan apartment that she had gotten so accustomed to since beginning her relationship with the detective so many months ago. Other than the beautiful new hardwood floors that had been laid at some point immediately after the groups' adventure in Valhalla, and the curtains that were drawn out of the way of the large and usually covered windows overlooking the city, Lauren didn't notice anything strikingly different about Tamsin's apartment. Picking up on her girlfriend's confusion, Tamsin gently grabbed her hand and pulled her into the apartment to lead her to the bedroom at the end of the hall (but not before pausing to lock the door behind her – Lauren noted several additional locks on the new door, and bit back the urge to question the valkyrie about it).

"You brought me _straight_ to your apartment, _blindfolded_ me even, after a traumatic and life-changing journey, so you could pull me straight to _bed_?" Lauren asked, an amused grin gracing her features as they crossed the threshold to Tamsin's bedroom. "Not that I am opposing that, mind you. You could have probably done without the blindfold, however." The doctor then pulls the bundled fabric out of the pocket of her jeans, raising an eyebrow in the valkyrie's direction. "Unless we aren't _done_ with the blindfold yet?"

"Do you like the new floors?", Tamsin said in reply to change the subject as she slipped her hand out of Lauren's grasp and slowly slinked towards the dresser, walking backwards as she did so and doing her best to keep the Lauren's gaze.

The doctor looked down and appraised the new hardwood, knocking it gently with the tip of her shoe once or twice, honestly impressed that Tamsin had pulled up the beige carpet she had seemed so attached to. Lauren raised her eyebrow again as she looked back up at her girlfriend (was that a title that they are still using?, she wondered, after everything that they had been through).

"I suppose getting all my blood out of your carpet proved to be a more challenging feat than you thought?"

Swallowing the lump in her throat (and the sudden wave of guilty nausea that came with it), Tamsin pulled a tight smile.

"Something like that. I just know how much you like this stuff. It's just like the stuff at the compound, you-"

Lauren took a large step forward, effectively closing the distance between Tamsin and herself, and caught her girlfriend's lips in a loving kiss before she could finish her sentence. She attempted to deepen it further, raising her hand to the detective's hip to grasp a handful of her favorite blue leather jacket, but was distracted from her efforts when she heard the distinct sound of a drawer being pulled open. Pulling back with a quizzical look on her face, Lauren looked first at Tamsin's sheepish grin then over her shoulder to see what could possibly be _so_ important in the valkyrie's bureau that she felt the need to open it when there were _much_ more pressing matters at hand. Her brow furrowed even more when she noticed that this particular drawer was filled with neatly folded and carefully placed clothes – quite the contrary to the way Tamsin would usually just throw her clothes in the drawers without regard for organizing or even _folding_ them. Lauren then gasped as it dawned on her, an embarrassing number of seconds later – the clothes in the drawer weren't Tamsin's. They were _hers_.

"Tamsin…?"

"After everything that happened, I thought maybe you'd want some help adjusting to, you know", Tamsin shrugged her shoulders as she rolled her eyes, searching for the right words, "_adjusting_?"

When Lauren didn't say anything, the valkyrie let out a huff and turned out of her grasp to open the remaining drawers. As each opened, Lauren was shocked to see that every single one was filled with her own carefully folded clothes, in the exact way and order that she had left them in her apartment. Still in shock, the doctor slowly walked over to the door to Tamsin's closet and opened it – half of the closet looked just as she remembered it, with Tamsin's clothes haphazardly thrown onto and over hangers or (more often than not) just laying in various piles on the floor. The other half of the large closet, however, was filled with Lauren's jackets, slacks, and blouses carefully hung up and even color coordinated the way that they had been in Lauren's closet on the Light compound. Lauren spent a long time staring at the space that used to house Hurricane Tamsin's wardrobe in shock, only pulled from her reeling thoughts when she felt strong arms wrap around her midsection and a chin connect softly with her shoulder.

"Don't be mad, doc. I just thought you'd like some help with this whole '_oh shit I guess I'm not human anymore_' thing. Especially since there's a whole new set of rules for you to learn now. And there isn't a better teacher than me."

"You? Rules?"

"Okay, so maybe not the _rules_ part. But the valkyrie part?" Tamsin made a soft _pffft_ noise. "I got this. I just want to help, you know? This _is_ all kind of my fault. I don't want you to be mad, though."

"_Kind of_?", the doctor questions, but Tamsin hears the smile in her voice. "How could I be _mad_, Tamsin?", Lauren spun around in her girlfriend's arm and placed their foreheads together. The valkyrie let out a relieved sigh and the breath that she didn't know she had been holding – she was honestly concerned that Lauren would be upset, either that Tamsin had made this decision for her after all the other choices that were made for her over the past few years, or even simply that Tamsin had Dyson and Bo sneak into Lauren's apartment on the Light compound to steal all of her clothes and most of her other personal belongings and carefully organize them in her own apartment. Though Lauren didn't know it yet, Tamsin had even had much of her lab equipment brought over and transformed her former workout room into a make-shift study and lab for the doctor to use as she saw fit. Lauren brought her hands up to gently cradle her girlfriend's face as she leaned back to look at her, the laughter in her eyes evident even under the tears that were beginning to well up there. "You could have just _asked_ me to move in, though."


	2. Chapter 2

It didn't take long for the couple to lose interest in all of the albeit interesting new things in Tamsin's old apartment – by the time the valkyrie had showed Lauren the room that used to be her study, but now housed all of Lauren's lab equipment, cabinets, computers, and various objects that Tamsin would later swear to have come straight from science fiction, the two of them had had enough show and tell. Lauren silently pulled Tamsin back to the bedroom, despite her protests that she had to show her the bathroom and kitchen still (which had, just as the rest of the apartment had, filled with the doctor's possessions) and pushed her back onto the soft bed in the center of it. Wasting no time, the doctor pulled off her loose t-shirt and climbed atop her girlfriend (effectively ending the tirade of soft-spoken complaints), closing her eyes and relishing the gentle brushes of cool fingertips against the still-healing bruises and cuts that adorned her midsection. Just as the valkyrie had sat up to place her lips to a particularly stubborn bruise that ran along Lauren's hipbone, however, the door bell rang. On any other occasion, she would have been happy to ignore the intrusive dinging that filled the otherwise quiet apartment, but after the fourth time Tamsin fell back onto the bed with a huff and crossed her arms over her chest.

"It must be important", Lauren mumbles with a sheepish grin when she climbs off of Tamsin and then the bed, bending down to retrieve her borrowed Police Department shirt. "I can get it for you, if you'd like."

"No!", Tamsin says all to quickly, then clears her throat as she sits up. "I mean, it's okay. I've got it. Just stay here, and don't put that shirt back on or so help me _god_, Lewis. I'll be right back."

"Tamsin-"

"Just _stay here_, Lauren. I'm sure it's nothing."

Knowing all too well that Tamsin's wanting her to stay in the bedroom had much more to it than the valkyrie simply wanting to make sure the shirt stayed off, but not willing to say anything about it just yet, Lauren nods slowly and sits herself down on the edge of the bed – the shirt, as silently promised, is discarded across the room.

As Tamsin makes her way through the apartment, she does her best to ignore the increasing pounding in her chest. She takes a small detour to the kitchen, where she retrieves her service weapon from the top drawer of the new island she had installed. Tucking it carefully in the back of the waistband of the jeans she was wearing, and leaving a finger resting carefully on the trigger, the blonde finally makes her way to the front door and takees a deep breath before undoing all of the locks and pulling it open.

"What took you so long, lil' mama?"

"_Hale_", Tamsin breathes out, releasing the white-knuckle grip she had on the butt of the weapon. "_Jesus_. Get your ass in here, will ya? All I need is every dark fae in my building to see the fucking _Ash_ at my door."

"It's not even noon yet", Hale says as he steps inside, "don't you guys usually sleep while the sun is up?"

"Usually", Lauren quips with a smile from the hallway as she walks towards the two. Much to Tamsin's dismay, the old Police Department shirt had found it's way back on – she was _definitely_ going to have to punish the doctor later. (A thought which causes her heart to beat even faster, thinking of where the two of them had left off before being interrupted by The Ash of all people.)

"Hardy har", the valkyrie mocks, walking back to the kitchen and pulling a beer out of the fridge.

"I just said it's not even _noon_ yet and you're getting a _beer_?"

"Breakfast", Lauren and Tamsin reply in unison, then look at each other with smiling eyes. Tamsin winks at the doctor before turning her attention back to Hale. "To what do I owe the honor, oh great Ash?"

"I'm actually here to talk to Lauren", the siren says, turning to face the doctor as the two woman share a nervous glance – they both know what Hale is here to ask. "You're fae now, doc. You know what that means."

"No."

"Tamsin, she _has_ to."

"_No_."

The valkyrie downs the remainder of her beer in a large gulp and leaves the bottle in the sink, then quickly closes the distance between her and Hale. He doesn't flinch even their faces come mere inches away from each other, much to Tamsin's surprise, and they lock eyes.

"You don't think she's been through enough this week, _Haley_?", Tamsin whispers with a sickeningly sweet grin on her face, so opposite of the venom dripping from her words. "This can wait."

"No. It can't."

Tamsin only falters for a fraction of a second, when she feels Lauren come up next to her and place a gentle hand on her shoulder. They knew this was coming, without ever having to speak of it. Lauren _was_ fae now, and that in itself required learning an entire new way of life – as if having to learn how to harness, control, and hopefully master her new role as a valkyrie wasn't enough.

"It's okay", Lauren says softly as she leans to place a gentle kiss to her girlfriend's throbbing temple. She then turns to face Hale, and easily slips into the cool mask of professionalism that she knows so well. "Let me have today to prepare, Hale. _Please_."

The siren looks skeptical, looking between the two women as if trying to ascertain whether or not there was ulterior motive here – in the end, he knows that Lauren has never been anything but true to her word. Even to the less than kind rulers she had served before him. He nods tightly.

"No later than 8, Lauren. I mean it. Everyone will be there."

With that he excuses himself, leaving Lauren and Tamsin to look at each other silently.

"_Prepare_?", Tamsin finally says when Lauren begins to shift uncomfortably under her gaze. Lauren sighs and practically falls into Tamsin's arms, resting her head on her shoulder, and Tamsin pulls the doctor closer to her. "Prepare _how_ exactly? Do you even know what you're going to do?"

Lauren mumbles into the valkyrie's jacket, causing her to chuckle despite the intensity of the situation.

"Try again, Lewis."

"I _said_", Lauren begins as she stands up straight, but not moving out of Tamsin's grasp completely, allowing those strong hands to settle gently on her hips, "I'm going to need help. And there's only one person that's done what I want to do."

"Don't say it, Lauren. I swear to _fuck_, I will sleep on the _couch_, in my _own _apartment, for a _week_."

Smiling sheepishly, the doctor places a gentle kiss to Tamsin's scowling lips.

"I need Bo."

"_Again_?", Tamsin huffs, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "I feel like I just had this conversation!"


	3. Chapter 3

Both Lauren and Tamsin are quiet on the drive to Bo's clubhouse; the radio is droning on, but both women are filled with far too much nervous energy to listen to any of the songs or adverts that are playing, let alone fill the car with anything but tense silence. Tamsin falls into her usual routine of playing with the doctor's hand over the center counsel of the Jeep, and is so preoccupied with the feeling of her rough calluses against the palm of Lauren's soft hand and the thoughts racing through her mind about the upcoming day that she doesn't hear Lauren saying her name the first few times.

"Hmm?", she says when she finally catches it who knows how many times later, and glances over to the passenger side, where Lauren is sitting in what has to be a uncomfortably rigid position and looking out the windshield at the oncoming traffic. There is a surprising amount of cars on the road for how early in the afternoon it is, on a weekday, and Tamsin hopes they'll be able to get across town to the crack shack to meet with Bo sooner rather than later.

"I was just asking what it was like for you. The Gathering, that is", Lauren says quietly, still looking ahead. "Is it anything like what I went through in Valhalla? Because I... I don't know if I could do something like_ that_ again."

Tamsin puts her foot on the brake, suddenly enough that Lauren has to put her hand on the dashboard in front of her to keep her head from connecting with it and the car that was behind them whips around while honking their horn. The valkyrie simply mutters profanities under her breath as she pulls her Jeep over to the shoulder of the busy road, paying little to no attention to the cars around them. When they come to a stop, Lauren has finally pulled her eyes from the front of the car to gape at Tamsin silently.

"_Listen_", the blonde says insistently as she twists her body in the front seat to look at her girlfriend properly, "it is _nothing_ like Valhalla. You need to know that. We are going to go to The Glass Factory, they're going to try to break you, they're going to _fail_, and then we are going to go back to our apartment and I am going to fuck you all night. Okay?"

When Lauren doesn't say anything, Tamsin brings up both of her hands to gently cradle either side of her face. Catching worried brown eyes with her own, the valkyrie is sure to hold her gaze.

"You can do this, Lewis. It'll be a _cake walk_. And I will be right there. I won't let anything happen to you."

Bo is outside when the two of them finally pull up to the worn-down house, wearing nothing but her kimono despite the near freezing weather, and shooing away an equally as scantily-clad woman who appears to be reluctantly unlocking her car in preparation to leave. Tamsin laughs loudly at the blush that creeps over the succubus' cheeks when she notices the Jeep coming to a stop just feet away from her, and Lauren raises an eyebrow in question – to which Bo just shrugs, her blush deepening as she quickly spins on her heel and walks back into the clubhouse.

"Must be snack time for the succuslut", Tamsin quips as the pair exit the Jeep and make a bee-line for the house, not wanting to dwaddle in the early autumn chill.

Much to Tamsin's dismay, Bo is almost dressed by the time they greet Kenzi (who did little more than grunt at them from her spot on the couch, where she was playing video games) and make their way upstairs. Zipping up a pair of knee-high boots over her (in Tamsin's opinion, at least) ridiculous leather pants, Bo motions for them to take a seat across from her.

"So", Lauren says slowly as she lowers herself onto the small loveseat adjacent to the bed, looking awkwardly around the bedroom as if she'd never seen the inside of it before (Tamsin knows that is hardly the truth, and a small rock settles in the pit of her stomach – she pushes the thought away, however, knowing better than to think too long on the subject of Bo and Lauren, and their relationship before she sauntered into the picture), "how are you, Bo?"

"How am _I_?", the succubus asks with a dazzling smile, and Tamsin begins to feel sick to her stomach with it's largeness and honesty. "How are _you_? How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, actually. I _am_ a bit nauseous, I think, but I'm sure it is mostly nerves. I'm not really sure what I should expect tomorrow – which is ridiculous, I suppose, considering how many Gatherings I've attended in one capacity of another. Mostly as a doctor, obviously. Humans aren't allowed within the actually ceremony room, but I'm sure you knew that. I mean, I was even at yours, Bo. I rem-"

Tamsin cuts off Lauren's nervous rambling with a chaste kiss, which causes Bo to shift uncomfortably from her place on the bed, but not to drop her sickeningly large smile. Tamsin mentally marks it as a win anyways.

"Right", Lauren says, shaking her head as if it will cause some of her nerves to dissipate, "I'm rambling."

"Only a little bit." Bo smiles at her, this time more with concern than with... whatever that was earlier. "It'll be okay, though. You don't need to be nervous. It's strenuous, yeah. But mostly because The Morrigan and Hale will be trying to win your vote the entire time – the actual fighting won't be a problem for you."

"She's right, you know!", Kenzi says excitedly as she literally _bounces_ into the bedroom and takes a seat next to Bo – how she manages to walk in the shoes that she chooses to wear, Tamsin will never know. "BoBo did it, and she didn't know anything about the fae then. Doc, you practically know _everything_ about _everything_."

"Exactly", Bo agrees. "You're going to be fine. The hardest part will be deciding what to do when the fighting is over and hundreds of _very_ interested eyes are on _you_."

Lauren smiles nervously and sends a sideways glance at Tamsin, who smiles back as reassuringly as she can – she knows that the doctor is terrified, which is more than understandable considering what had ended up happening the last time the woman was put on trail, but she also knows that she doesn't need to be. Without even truly being aware of how to _be _fae, Tamsin knows that Lauren will defeat whoever or whatever they throw at her in an attempt to prove her mettle.

The valkyrie only strains to hold the smile when she thinks of that terrible moment at the end of the battle, when Lauren will be asked to choose a side – of course, most will assume that the doctor will align herself with the Light, as she had been so intertwined in their day to day workings for the better part of a decade now. The Morrigan will surely take advantage of this, however, and attempt to convince Lauren to side with the Dark by bringing up every little thing that the previous Ash and Lachlan had done to the poor woman when she was still human. Will Hale retaliate if Lauren chooses the Dark fae? Will their relationship suffer should she choose the Light? And will Evony try to use Lauren's relationship with Tamsin to sway her decision?

The most terrifying thought of all, the valkyrie thinks solemnly as Lauren and Bo chat about the upcoming events, is what could possibly happen is Lauren does decide to follow in Bo's footsteps and remain unaligned; of course Tamsin would understand, as both woman spent far more time in the world of humans than they ever did in the world of the fae. But it's dangerous to be unaligned, and Lauren has had enough trouble for one lifetime. For _two_, even.

"I'm going to go make a phone call", Tamsin says suddenly, interrupting Kenzi's opinion of tomorrow's footwear mid-sentence. All three women eye her curiously as she stands, but she sheepishly excuses herself with a kiss to Lauren's cheek and makes her way downstairs. The valkyrie takes a deep breath as she selects the previously undialed number in her contacts and presses the phone to her ear – despite her nerves, about both this phone call and tomorrow in general, she can't help but smirk when the tell-tale sounds of a bar are heard upon the receiving party's answer.

"Well well", the booming voice comes through the phone, as large and deep as she remembers, heard clearly even over the loud music and general chaos occurring in the background, "hello, little sister."


	4. Chapter 4

I love Evony. Have I ever said that before? Because I do.  
I haven't decided what kind of role I want her to have in this story yet but she will certainly have on. I mean, come on... she's hot.

Anyways yeah I want to point out that you are all awesome and I love you! Enjoy~!

* * *

"Are you scared?"

Lauren's voice cuts through the tense silence of Tamsin's bedroom, making her hears ring despite the softness of the whisper. They didn't stay at Bo's too much longer after the valkyrie finally made her way back up to the group, Lauren getting whatever it was she needed from the succubus and bidding both her and Kenzi farewell; by the time they got back to the apartment, their pizza was ordered and eaten, and Lauren had done just about as much research on The Gathering itself as she could possibly stand, the two of them were exhausted – both physically _and_ mentally – and decided not to push the envelope by trying to stay up any later. (Not that they went _straight_ to bed, mind you – this _is_ Tamsin we're talking about.)

"Am _I_ scared?", Tamsin asks, pulling the doctor closer to her and placing a single kiss to her bare shoulder. "Why would _I _be scared?"

"I though that perhaps one of us should be. And for whatever reason, I'm _not_. Maybe that's a good thing." The doctor turns around in Tamsin's arms to face her and brings her own hands up to rest them gently against strong shoulders, the small smile in the moonlight enough to make Tamsin smile back (in spite of the fear she refuses to admit to). Her hands are cool against the valkyrie's unnaturally warm skin, and she relishes the feeling of them resting against her collarbones. Part of her wishes she would drag them just that little bit lower, but she knows that now is certainly not the time – _later_, she thinks with a inward smirk, positive that she can come up with several creative ways to celebrate by this time tomorrow. "I just want to get it over with, to be honest. I'm sure everything will go back to normal after tomorrow. Or, well... today."

"Yeah", Tamsin lies, leaning forward to place a soft kiss to Lauren's forehead, "I'm sure it will. Now go back to sleep."

* * *

Tamsin reluctantly agrees to meet Lauren and the others at The Glass Factory later in the morning, deciding not to ruffle too many feathers by not only going to the Light compound with the doctor, but arriving to the ceremony with the happy sunshine gang in tow. With several attempts at a proper goodbye, the valkyrie gave her trusted blade to Lauren with shaking hands ('_just in case_', she had said when Lauren insisted she wouldn't need it) and made her way to the bay. When Lauren finally got to the Light compound, it was 8 on the dot and Hale was already waiting for her by the gates with a menagerie of bodyguards. He silently ushered her straight past the buildings and to the back of the campus, where a limo was waiting for them.

"Sparing no expense, I see?"

Hale smiles at her as she ducks her head to get inside, where Bo, Dyson, and Kenzi are sitting. Bo is tapping her foot nervously, as Kenzi and Dyson chat as if there _isn't_ a major battle coming up; the normalcy of it soothes Lauren's nerves the slightest bit. The succubus catches her nervous gaze as the doctor takes her seat, and sends a small reassuring nod her way. Hale enters last, pulling the door shut behind him and banging the window twice – with that, the limo begins to pull out of the compound and towards the bay.

"Anything for you, doc."

It had been a long time since Lauren had been to The Glass Factory – since Bo's own Gathering, actually – but the large and decrepit building was just as she remembered it. Random fae of indiscernible alignment were arriving by limo much as she and the others had, and many of them were milling about outside or just inside the building in a large common space. As she made her way to the large doors, Bo practically walking on her heels with a hand on her dagger and Dyson offering threatening glares to anyone that dared to look too hard, Lauren could feel the eyes of every single fae watching her closely.

"I hate this", she mutters to no one in particular when the group finally makes their way inside. Dyson gives her shoulder a single reassuring squeeze, which she thanked him for with a small smile.

"Oh", came the distinct cool voice of Evony from somewhere ahead of her, hidden by the crowd, "but the fun hasn't even _begun_ yet, doctor."

As she spoke, the few dozens of fae in the space parted instantly and there, in all her glory, The Morrigan was standing with a predatory smile on her face – her form-fitting black dress accentuated every curve and her dark hair was pulled back into a loose bun, allowing several errant strands to fall out and bring attention to her long neck and the plunging neckline of her dress. In a different situation, in a different _life_, the doctor would have thought her beautiful. Today, however, she just saw her as one more thing she had to defeat today. It would have made Lauren nervous, if she didn't catch a flash of a very familiar light blonde ponytail as it quickly made its way behind Evony and it's owner took it's place next to her. Just seeing Tamsin eased the pounding in the doctor's chest, though she knew better than to show any kind of reaction to seeing her girlfriend here.

"Come. Let's have a chat, shall we?"

Lauren looks back to Hale (mostly out of habit – it's hard for her to believe that she doesn't need to ask permission from the Ash to do something, _especially_ to do something like talk to The Morrigan of all people), who nods tightly without taking his narrowed eyes off the group of Dark fae standing across the room from them. Slowly, Lauren makes her way through the crowd and follows Evony, Tamsin, and several other fae as they turn on their heels and make their way to a small room off of the one they are in now. As they enter, The Morrigan sits in a plush armchair close to the door and motions for Lauren to take her place in the similar chair across from her.

"So", the woman draws out as the doctor lowers herself into the chair, "you're a valkyie now."

Not sure how to answer, Lauren keeps her eyes down to avoid the temptation to look at Tamsin for reassurance, and nods.

"They'll let anyone in these days, you know. They _must_ be getting desperate. Poor old Odin." Evony glances up at Tamsin with a mischievous glint in her eyes. The valkyrie looks away while biting her tongue, knowing that anything she might say could come back on Lauren somehow. "I mean, poor old daddy dearest."

"We only have a few minutes before the ceremony begins, ma'am."

The Morrigan rolls her eyes at the random fae, a large man who is more than likely a bodyguard.

"Yes, yes. The Light are always so _punctual_, aren't they? Listen, Lauren", the doctor finally looks up, catching Tamsin's worried eyes before looking to Evony, "I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Don't you think you've done _enough_ for the Light? Don't you think they're done enough _to you_? I mean, don't get me wrong. The old Ash? He was easy on the eyes... not that _that _would have swayed your decision at all, from what I hear. But he _did_ put your little girlfriend into a _com_a for five years to get you to work for him."

Lauren falters for only a moment, taking in a sharp breath as she offers up yet another silent apology to Nadia.

"There are an infinite number of reason why siding with me is a better than idea than siding with Hale – experience, for one. And honesty. Think about it – who pointed you in the right direction to saving Nadia? _Certainly_ not the people that swore to help you. With me, what you see is what you get. And I am _sure_ that you like what you see."

Cocking an eyebrow in her direction, Lauren crosses her arms over her chest and leans back in her seat. If Evony wants her to join the Dark fae, she is going to have to convince her by doing more than just bringing up the many _many_ shortcomings of the Light fae – for every terrible thing that had happened to her since working for the Light fae, Evony and the entire Dark fae population have done at least 10. But Evony knows this, and surely knows that Lauren knows this. So, she has brought more to the table than that. Much much more.

"And you think I will align myself with the Dark because you're a woman?"

"Oh, _no –_ not that I'm not flattered, mind you", she laughs, using a long and perfectly manicured finger to point over her shoulder, where Tamsin is looking around the room and trying to appear uninterested, "I think that you'll align yourself with the Dark fae because your girlfriend did."

"_Excuse_ me?", Tamsin says with a scowl as she turns her attention back to the conversation. "Leave me out of this, Marquis. My job here is to look pretty and drink your wine – I am _not_ a bargaining piece."

"I'm just saying. If you align yourself with the Light fae, I will do _everything_ within my power to make _this_", she points from Lauren to Tamsin, "a thing of the past. And I have_ a lot_ of power. I don't care what your daddy told you, and I don't care about whatever ridiculous joining you two had – this isn't Valhalla. Here, you abide by _my_ rules."

Evony rises and pivots on her heel to exit the room with her large bodyguards close behind. She only stops to smile at Lauren and Tamsin over her shoulder before opening the door.

"Just something to think about, doctor. See you soon."


	5. Chapter 5

By the time Hale and the others make their way to the room, Tamsin had plenty of time to rip it apart in a fit of rage – the chairs were overturned, the table flipped, and the items that once adorned the walls (including a large and _very_ expensive looking mirror, which Lauren made a mental note to attempt to replace once this was all over) had all made their way to the floor and were in a general state of disarray. Fortunately, Lauren had forced the valkyrie to take a seat and calm down before things got even _more_ out of hand – it made for quite the sight when the group entered, with Lauren standing with her arms crossed and towering over the valkyrie, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor in the center of the room looking quite admonished.

"Do I even _want_ to know what happened in here?", Hale asks as he walks up behind Lauren and takes a stance similar to the doctor's, looking down at the scowling valkyrie. The rest of the group chooses to stay either in the hallway or just inside the doorway, watching the three of them carefully. "Please tell me this happened _after_ Evony left."

"I'm just keeping the detective here from attempting to _doubt _Evony into some sort of violent death", she shrugs and sends him a small sideways smile, negating the severity of what she just said – a Dark fae (or _any_ fae, really) that makes a threat against The Morrigan, whether it be heartfelt or not, usually doesn't last long. And Hale truly doubts that Tamsin's threats were anything _but_ heartfelt. "Nothing major."

Tamsin, who's ponytail had come mostly undone in the chaos and is casting errand strands of loose curls all over, huffs in an attempt to blow some of her hair off of her face. Crossing her arms over her chest, she looks at each of the happy sunshine gang in turn then locks her eyes solidly with Hale's.

"I am _not_ a bargaining piece."

"I take it that The Morrigan tried to use Tamsin to get you to choose sides then?"

Lauren nods in his direction.

"It didn't work", Tamsin answers for her, standing slowly and brushing dust off of the seat of her pants. "It _won't_ work. I won't let her _bully_ Lauren into choosing."

"Tamsin, honey, no one can make this decision for me. I have to do this myself."

"Yeah, but... you're not _seriously_ considering joining _her_", Bo says quietly from her place leaning against the door frame, "are you?"

"The fight is about to begin", Lauren answers quickly as she turns on her heels and walks out of the room without so much as acknowledging anyone in it, let alone attempting to answer Bo's question. Four sets of eyes all turn to look at Tamsin, still standing in the center of the room awe-struck, as if she can provide them with the answers they are all so curious to find out. Following suit, the valkyrie huffs again as she shrugs much as Lauren did and begins to follow her out of the room and towards the ceremony chamber.

* * *

Before they can enter the chamber, they are confronted by a large man demanding that Lauren must enter alone. Bo, Kenzi, and Dyson wish her luck before making their way upstairs to join Hale without any argument, knowing that it would probably be best to avoid any kind of fight this close to the actually ceremony. Tamsin dwaddles, however, pulling Lauren back around the corner they had just rounded as to avoid the serious gaze of the bouncer. Lauren opens her mouth to speak, but is immediately cut off by the valkyrie's lips on hers, insistent and needy – unlike how the valkyrie usually kisses her, lacking the heat and control she usually posses, but Lauren is certainly not going to argue and immediately smiles into the woman pressing her body up against her. She feels shuddering suddenly, however, and a distinct saltiness can be tasted through the familiar taste of Tamsin's lips – honey and beer –, forcing the doctor to push softly against her girlfriend's shoulders.

"Tamsin", she begins just above a whisper as she brings her thumb up to wipe away the last few tears that are falling. The valkyrie brings up her own hand to frantically wipe away at the ones Lauren's thumb missed. "_Cake walk_, remember? No reason to cry."

"I am_ not_ crying", Tamsin replies incredulously, betrayed by the small sniffle that follows it. Lauren only smiles and leans forward to place a soft kiss to each reddened cheek, to her forehead, and lastly to her still-salty lips.

"Nothing that is going to happen here today is going to make a difference. No matter what they throw at me, no matter what side I choose, and no matter who that pisses off, at the end of all of this we are going to go home. To _our _home. And live _our_ life. Got it? If Odin couldn't stop this, what makes you think that anyone here can?"

Tamsin sniffles again.

"Shouldn't _I_ be the one giving _you_ the pep talk?"

"Yes", Lauren answers with a smile, stealing one last kiss before turning to make her way into the ceremony chambers.

* * *

Tamsin reluctantly let's Lauren enter the chamber alone (but not after eying the bouncer seriously to ascertain whether or not she thought she could take him out on her own and go in with Lauren anyways – in the end, she decided that she should probably not), and makes her way upstairs to sit with Evony and her entourage of large bodyguards. She chooses the seat behind The Morrigan as opposed to the one next to her that she had obviously been saving for the valkyrie, and once Evony notices her in the room – and not in the seat that she had gone through the effort of saving just for her – she turns to eye the blonde seriously. Uncomfortable under the scrutinizing gaze, Tamsin fetches a glass of wine from the tray next to her and downs it rather quickly.

"You can go ahead and turn around anytime now, Evony. There's nothing back here for you."

"Oh", she replies with a perfect eyebrow raised, "I beg to differ."

"You're going to beg to do more than that if you don't turn around."

Evony leans towards the valkyrie, close enough that it wouldn't take much on Tamsin's part to brush their lips together – or, alternatively, smash her forehead into Evony's, hard enough to draw blood. It isn't hard to guess which of the two Tamsin is imagining as The Morrigan laughs, her breath warm on Tamsin's already hot cheeks.

"But beg for _what_, I wonder?"

She turns around in her seat before Tamsin can formulate a reply, and the speaker in the center of the room downstairs clears his throat to capture the attention of the on-lookers before she even has time to be upset about that.

"The Gathering is an ancient rite of passage", the old man begins, and Tamsin wonders if he himself has been around since the damn thing had been started, "that _all_ young fae must go through before they are considered adults in our society. Though this particular fae came to us under... _unusual_ circumstances, she must pass the rite as we all once did."

He motions for something out of Tamsin's line of vision, and she lets out a sigh of relief when none other than Lauren makes her way to join him at the center of the room. She looks nervous, playing with the hem of her button-up as she glances around the room. What Tamsin wouldn't give to just be able to be down there with her, at least in a place where the doctor could _see_ her.

"This young woman – this valkyrie –, Lauren Lewis, formally a ward of the Light, will face two trails here today: a physical trail, to prove her worth in battle. And a mental trail, to prove her fortitude in the wars that can be waged on one's mind. Both The Morrigan _and_ The Ash are here to watch over your trails today, child. Are you ready?"

Lauren scans the large room, looking up to the balcony levels and gaping slightly at all the people that seem to be in attendance – the lights hanging from the ceiling make it difficult to make out exactly how many people are in the space, but judging by the number of fae that were milling about before the ceremony had started, there are quite a few.

"Child?", the old man asks gently, and Tamsin can see Lauren gulp visibly even from this far away.

"I'm ready."


	6. Chapter 6

I was going to make this into 2 smaller chapter but YOLO.

Does anyone still say yolo anymore?

Am I cool yet?

Enjoy~!

* * *

The room fell silent as the speaker made his way off of the main floor and on to a slightly raised platform a short distance away from the center where he left Lauren standing, and he took his seat. Raising a wrinkled hand, the speaker snapped one time. Lauren immediately looked to the far side of the room, where the entire wall had begun to shake violently after the single snap, only to give way before she truly had time to react – the wall collapsed, sending debris and dust flying into the open space, causing her to lose her balance and topple over. She landed on her back, effectively knocking all of the wind out of her lungs and causing the back of her head to connect roughly with the ground, and was unable to recover until the dust hand almost completely settled. When the doctor's vision had finally stopped spinning and her unsteady legs stopped trying to give way, her eyes settled on the last thing she would have ever expected to see at her Gathering:

A _ketos_.

One of the biggest advantages Lauren had at this ceremony was her overall knowledge of all things fae – not that it helped her much when it came to a beast such as a ketos. Easily twenty feet long, with_ teeth_ as big as Lauren herself, the ketos is a large snake fae that is not usually found outside Scotland, where it is believed to be the creature behind the Loch Ness monster myths in the area. The most important thing about this particular fae, however, was it's scales – harder than diamonds, the ketos itself was almost hunted to extinction as the hunters of old sought to use it's scales to make indestructible armor.

Tamsin barely has time to mutter "_shit_" and attempt to fly out of her chair (an attempt which is thwarted as one of Evony's large bodyguards places a huge hand on either of her comparably small shoulders to keep her in place) before the creature let's out a roar that shakes the entire building and lunges at Lauren.

What happened next surprises everyone, but most of all Lauren herself:

She simply stepped out of it's way.

The ketos crashed loudly into the wall behind her, letting out another loud roar as it's head connected with the concrete. Lauren, still shocked that she had been able to react as quickly as she had, unsheathes Tamsin's sword with a surprisingly steady hand and prepares for the ketos to strike again. When it does, as quickly as it had the first time but with twice as much force, the inexperienced valkyrie is somehow able to focus enough to slow the movements of the creature to almost sluggish speeds – with her new focus, Lauren easily avoids the second attack and is able to take a well-timed swing at the ketos' back. Much as she expected, however, the blade bounces off of the hard scales with little more than a soft clank, and the resilient creature gears up for another lunge at the human.

Suddenly realizing that there is only one way that she is going to be able to defeat the beast, Lauren turns to face it as it gears up for a third lunge – no doubt that this attack will be even more forceful than the last. But the doctor is counting on it, for her plan to work the way that she needs to. As the ketos contracts it's massive body and lunges towards her, Lauren attempts to jump high enough to clear the majority of the force and land on the beast's back. She miscalculates, however, and the top of a massive head catches her toes midair and sends her flying into a pile of debris from the previously collapsed wall. Again, the doctor finds herself struggling to catch her breath as she lays on her back atop a large piece of displaced concrete – she doesn't roll out of the way fast enough when the ketos lunges yet again, and a large fang catches her forearm and easily rips through the tender flesh there. Unable to swallow down the scream of pain, but refusing to waste the fraction of opportunity she has, Lauren uses the now bleeding arm to push herself up and land solidly on the back of the beast just behind it's head. Raising Tamsin's sword with both hands, the doctor let's out a battle cry she wasn't even positive she possessed and drives the blade straight down and into a space between two massive shimmering scales. The ketos roars and begins to trash about, but Lauren digs the blade even deeper into the soft tissue she's found and rides out the movements (she had never been so thankful for all the times she rode the mechanical bull at the bar close to Yale in her youth) until the ketos finally stops, and falls to the ground with a heavy thud.

Loud cheering fills the space, but Lauren can hardly make any of it out through the pounding that seems to be filling her ears. The cut on her arm is large, and deep, stretching from elbow to wrist on the arm that was still a bruise from the happenings in Valhalla and bleeding rather profusely; the doctor knows she is going to need stitches, and blood – soon – but she also knows that there is still one more trail that she needs to pass before she is going to get any sort of medical attention. She takes off her bloodied and tattered shirt, leaving her in a simple singlet, and rips a portion of the bottom of it off to make a make-shift tourniquet.

Tamsin, watching with slack-jawed interest from her place high above the main floor, is only pulled from her intense focus by Evony placing an annoying gentle hand on her knee.

"I thought", The Morrgian begins slowly, actually appearing to be impressed by Lauren's certainly impressive win, "that valkyrie's couldn't slow the attacks of their opponents in battle until they'd all but _mastered_ their powers. There is no way Lauren has _mastered_ her powers... it there?"

Tamsin doesn't answer, still unable to take her eyes off of Lauren as the doctor limps over to the lifeless body of the ketos and pulls the blade out from behind it's massive head. The valkyrie's gut twist with worry and ire as she notices the blood-matted hair on the back of the doctor's head, and the mangled state of the arm that was still holding onto it's fractures from Valhalla. Evony follows her line of sight and joins Tamsin in watching Lauren's actions as she adjusts the tourniquet on her arm and waits for her second trail.

"She's something special", Tamsin finally says without looking away. She all but _plucks_ The Morrgian's hand off of her knee and removes it. "And there's _still _nothing back here for you, Marquis."

She clicks her tongue in the blonde's direction, but doesn't argue.

After assuring herself that the make-shift tourniquet will hold, at least for a time, Lauren looks around the large space searching for whatever it is her next trail may be. With the bright lights still trained on her, however, coupled with the pounding in her head, she can't seem to make anything out. The doctor thinks that she may have a moment to just breathe, and closes her eyes to take a deep breath and attempt to take her mind off of the excruciating pain still emanating from where she had hit her head and, though dulled somewhat, from her arm. She must have lost more blood than she originally thought, however, because the longer her eyes are closed the more tired she seems to become; she fights to open her eyes, but the longer she stays in the darkness, the more comfortable it becomes.

The last thing Lauren feels before losing all awareness of her surroundings is her knees buckling underneath her.

When she regains consciousness, the first sensation Lauren is overwhelimgly aware of is numbness. She remembers the abhorrent pain running through her what can't be more than moments ago, so the numbness is welcomed if not misunderstood. The next thing she becomes aware of is that wherever she has ended up is filled with screams, agonizing and torturous and... _familiar_.

Oh God.

_Tamsin_.

The doctor tears her eyes open and jumps to her feet, immediately running through the now abandoned Glass Factory and towards the sounds of her girlfriend's pained screams. She makes her way through the moderately familiar corridors of the large building, taking longer than she would have liked to make her way outside – the sky, which had been sunny and cloudless the way only a freezing day could make it when she had arrived, was suddenly filled with dark clouds that threatened to spill over and lightning that all but shook the ground every couple of minutes. The screams are louder, but their owner is no where to be seen – closing her eyes to focus on the sound, Lauren finally pinpoints it's origin and rushes around the corner of the building, where what she sees causes both her heart and her breathing to stop instantly.

Under the heel of a large metal boot is Tamsin, her face all but bloodied and beaten; if it hadn't been for the piercing green eyes that flickered open and met her own, Lauren wouldn't have been able to tell that it was Tamsin at all. The doctor drags her eyes up, over the heavy armor and hand clutching a heavy longsword to the face of someone she never thought she would see again: Tamsin's elder sister Brynja, with a sickening smile on her face, covered in blood that no doubt belongs to the helpless woman under her foot. Her face had finally healed from the beating Tamsin had given her in Valhalla, though Lauren could make out the scars across her cheeks and chin from here.

"I was wondering if you would join us", she says, her accented words dripping with poison as she licked her lips. "Our dearest Tamsin was so certain you would. I, on the other hand, had my doubts."

Lauren takes a large step forward, hand to the hilt of the sword still at her hip.

"What have you _done_, Brynja?"

"Is it not obvious? I have done what I needed to. You are _here_, are you not?"

As if to emphasize her point, the large woman presses Tamsin's face just that little bit further into the rough gravel beneath her. Lauren swallows painfully as the green eyes close slowly, silently thankful that the woman has slipped into unconsciousness, and fights the urge to lunge at Brynja with her sword drawn.

"I knew you would never come to me of your own volition. So I had to find a way to get you away from the protection of your friends so that you and I could _chat_. One on one." Brynja bends down and picks her younger sister up by her golden locks with a large gloved hand. "Taking care of Tamsin's pretty face the way she did mine a few short weeks ago was simply a bonus."

"You have gone too far", Lauren says slowly unsheathes the sword, relishing the noise is makes as it is revealed. Taking a slow step forward, she raises the blade defensively, not putting it past the older woman to play dirty and attack without any preface or warning. "I am going to _kill_ you, Brynja. I am going to slit your throat for what you've done here."

She just smiles in Lauren's direction, as sickeningly as she was before, and raises her own sword. Instead of raising it to attack or defend, however, she points the blade down and against the throat of her woman at her feet. Tamsin's breathing is shallow and labored, but every small breath she takes presses her throat against the sharpened blade.

"I have been doing this much longer than you, you know. I have learned how to pick my battles." Brynja presses the sword just that little bit closer to Tamsin, causing her to gasp suddenly and tear her eyes open. They meet Lauren's almost immediately, and the look of absolute fear almost breaks her. "I have learned how to fight _smart_. And I have learned how to win without letting my blade get so much as a _taste_ of blood."

"What do you want, Brynja? If not to fight, then what?"

"I could kill Tamsin, you know. My father, he would punish me greatly, quite possibly make me human. But I would no longer have to compete for the attentions and affections she has always been handed. But... would it not be more satisfying for me to watch her suffer for the remainder of her days? Watch her live her life knowing that her poor lover drew her own blade across her throat and ended her life?"

"I won't do it", Lauren spits back. "I'm no coward. Fight me like the _honorable_ valkyrie you claim to be."

"Either you end your life here and now, Lauren Lewis, or I draw my blade across my dear sister's throat." Tamsin gasps as the sword is pressed even closer to her throat, earning a small bubble of blood as it pinches the soft flesh there. "Your choice."

It would be easy for Lauren to lunge at Brynja as she arrogantly spoke on – but by the time she closed the distance between the two of them, easily ten feet, the woman would have time to drag the blade over Tamsin's throat and end her life before Lauren had time to properly mount an attack and rescue her. And Lauren could easily bring the blade up and run it against her own throat, much as she did in Valhalla during Odin's trial-

Trial. _Trial_. The Gathering.  
This was not real. This was a test.

Suddenly sure of herself and her realization, Lauren returns Brynja disgusting smile and brings her blade to her throat as if she makes to end her life, the way that the older woman had all but demanded. As she began to move her blade, however, with Brynja's eyes watching her with an incredible fire in them, the doctor suddenly straightens her arm at the elbow and sends the blade flying through the air, where it connects solidly and point-first with the center of the valkyrie's forehead. She falls back, her armor clanking loudly as she hits the ground with a small puff of dirt coming up around her. Lauren walks straight up to the fallen warrior and puts a foot on her chest, pulling out the blade with a soft noise before bending down to put her face mere inches away from the faux-Brynja's own.

"I _will_ do this to you someday, Brynja. By the _gods_, I hope you are somehow watching this. Stay away from Tamsin and I."

Lauren's world is suddenly hurled into darkness again, and she feels as if she was spinning through space. When she regains her awareness, she is laying on her back at in the center of the Glass Factory, still filled with gaping on-lookers, with her blade in her hand and a strange creature bleeding out several feet away from here. The creature, small and almost ape-like, has yellow eyes that are still glowing even as it lays dead on the cool concrete. _An alp_?, Lauren asks herself, surprised that they would employ this particular underfae in her trails. Alps are similar to Mares in that they are nightmare fae, but the alp feeds off of the despair felt by it's victims when faced with a seemingly life-or-death choice. Such as, per say, Lauren having to choose to end her own life, or Tamsin's. The doctor is secretly impressed that the fae elders sought this rare creature out for her trail, though it proves that they know very little about what she had to face during her time in Valhalla. She stands, slowly, still dizzy and disorientated, and turns to address the speaker.

"Can I go home now?", she all but whispers before falling to her knees due to pure exhaustion. The speaker stands and an assortment of random fae make their way onto the main floor to help her, but she waves them all off.

"This one has passed the test", Hale says from somewhere above her with a booming voice, smiling as he looks over to where Evony is sitting with a similar expression on her face. Tamsin has already sprung up from her seat and is making her way to the staircase as Hale addresses both Evony and the entire crowd. "It has been witnessed."

"Yes, yes. We were _all _watching."

The speaker steps off of the platform and helps Lauren to stand, despite her protests. He hands her a small towel, which she graciously accepts and beings to wipe the blood off of her face and exposed arms and shoulders.

"Child", he begins when Lauren has done all she can to clean her face and instead goes to press it against the still-bleeding ketos bite on her arm, "you have passed your trials. And quite impressively, might I add. You may now name your side."


	7. Chapter 7

Tamsin reaches Lauren just as the speaker asks her to choose a side, out of breath and on the brink of tears when she sees the damage the doctor had sustained up close – her hair is a matted and bloodied mess, her nose and ears bleeding, and her arm would certainly need surgery at this point. Despite her appearance, Lauren smiles at Tamsin with sparkling eyes when she sees the valkyrie rushing towards her.

"Oh _god_, Lewis", she breathes out, fighting back sniffles already, "what did I tell you about ruining your clothes, huh? These shirts are expensive."

Lauren smiles weakly at her again, and happily accepts the arm that is placed under her own to help her steady her feet. Bo, Dyson and Kenzi rush onto the main floor as well, running to Lauren's side without any resistance from the still-cheering crowd. They all quietly congratulate her, but are interrupted by Evony's sultry voice cutting through the noise the crowd is still making and effectively silencing the entire room. She and Hale had made their way to the main floor as well, both surrounded by their own entourage of large bodyguards.

"You have to choose now, Doctor Lewis."

"She's right, doc", Hale agrees. He nods at Dyson, who cryptically nods back at him. Before Tamsin has time to react, Dyson is apologizing to her and pulling the valkyrie off to the side of the main floor and away from Lauren. When he stops, he places his large arms around her and is not at all thwarted by her attempts to get away.

"What _gives_, dog breath?! Let me fucking go!"

"I'm sorry, Tam", and he actually _does_ sound sorry, "but Lauren has to make this decision _without_ our influence. Just let them talk it out. Let her choose."

She does relax at that, however slightly, and stops struggling against him. Bo and Kenzi make their way to where the two detectives are standing, the succubus looking quite nervous as she takes in the scene before her.

"I don't like this", she says quietly. Her and Tamsin share a look.

Lauren, who had fallen to her knees again once Dyson had dragged Tamsin off, slowly stands again on her unsteady legs and unsheathes Tamsin's sword to use as a make-shift cane to support herself.

"And if I refuse?", she says weakly, purposely avoiding Hale's scrutinizing gaze and Evony's perfectly shaped and raised eyebrows. She knows that each of them is expected her to choose their side – Hale, because they are friends, and because of Lauren's extensive commitment to the Light in the past. Evony, because she knows that if Lauren was to choose the Light she could quite literally make her and Tamsin's life a living hell. Alternatively, she wonders, Hale could – if he at some point chose to – make their lives just as miserable should he decide that he didn't like a member of his prestigious side being with a member of the Dark.

"You _can't_ refuse", Evony says with a knowing smirk. Tamsin practically gags at the sweetness of her voice. "Just remember what's at stake here, Doctor. Think very carefully about which side would be best for you and your _interests_."

"I don't want to align myself with _either_ of you."

Hale takes an almost threatening step forward, completely disregarding the way that Tamsin jerks in Dyson's arms in a failed attempt to lunge at the siren. He silently pats himself on the back for talking Dyson into confining the woman earlier in the day – he would certainly lose in hand to hand combat with the experienced warrior, and was not ready for the complete shit-storm that would arise from getting into a brawl at The Glass Factory with a Dark fae. The elders would have an absolutely _field day_.

"Think this through, Lauren", he says as he finally reaches her, standing in a way that would make her cower if this had been a year ago, had it been a different Ash and a different Lauren. "Think of everything that the Light fae have done for you. Allow us - allow _me_ - the opportunity to truly show you your worth here."

"My _worth_?", she spits back, a laugh escaping her lips that sounds foreign even to her. She is suddenly filled with adrenaline. "Hale, the Light fae tricked me. The imprisoned me, beat me, _tortured_ me, and you think I'm just going to agree to become one of you because I was once your _slave_?"

"You say that like it was me _personally_ that did any of that to you. Lauren, I'm not the old Ash."

"No. You're not. But you certainly didn't argue when Lachlan locked me in my apartment. Or when he refused to let me eat or sleep for _days_. What about when he put me in the dungeons for a week, Hale? Where were you? Where were you – my _friend_ – when he had me beaten? _Tortured_? Where were you then? Standing idly by and _watching_?"

The siren sucks his teeth, and looks away. Lauren, as much as he doesn't want to admit it (and won't, at least not out loud, and certainly not here), is right – save for Bo, every single person in Lauren's life at the time stood by and watched as Lachlan treated her like common chattel, barely acknowledging her existence enough to ensure she was _fed_ most days. No, he wasn't the Ash. He held no power, not really. But he could have said something, he could have stood up for the brave human when she needed a champion on her side more than ever.

"So you'll choose the Dark then? You would rather side with Evony?"

"Who _wouldn't_?", The Morrigan quips from where she is standing not more than ten feet away, obviously enjoying the way that the scene in front of her is playing out so far. Hale rolls his eyes in her direction before turned back to Lauren and placing a hand firmly on either one of her shoulders.

"I can think of _plenty_ of things Lauren could do with me at her side", Evony adds quietly. Tamsin swallows down bile.

"Think of what_ she _would have done to you – would you even still be _alive_? We've fought together, Lauren. You've saved all of our lives before, saved my sister's life, saved _my_ life. We're_ friends_. _Please_." He shakes his head. "Don't do this."

Lauren smiles, sickeningly sweet and large, and Tamsin and Bo share a look of worry that goes unnoticed by everyone else in the crowded space – neither of them knows what Lauren truly wants the outcome of today to be, or even what she is truly capable of now that she is fae. If the trails of her Gathering are a testament to anything about the newest member of the valkyrie order, it's that she has much more power than any one of them thought she would posses. Bo, having the advantage of not being confined by Dyson's strong arms the way that Tamsin is, takes a cautious step forward from behind Hale and taps his arm lightly, signaling him to move out of the way. He sighs heavily as he does so, allowing Bo to take his place and moving to instead stand next to Dyson.

"Lauren", she begins, softly, careful not to speak too harshly or move too suddenly – she can't say she knows exactly what Lauren is feeling, but she certainly remembers what it's like to be faced with this particular seemingly impossible decision, "_please_ don't side with Evony. Hale isn't the old Ash, or Lachlan. He would _never _do something like that to you. He's right. We're _friends_ – all of us."

Dyson nods in agreement with Bo, wavering just enough in his attentiveness to the conversation for Tamsin to quickly drop out of his grasp and rush over to her girlfriend. She sucks in a sharp breath as she reaches her, all but pushing the succubus out of the way and bringing a hand up to wipe a fresh dribble of blood that has begun to come from the doctor's nose. _She is going to need a hospital_, Tamsin thinks morosely, _soon_.

"I can't do this", Lauren whispers, closing her eyes and leaning her forehead on Tamsin's shoulder. She's just so _tired_. "I can't _do_ this. I can't _choose_."

"You have to. You_ can _do this, Lewis. No matter what," the valkyrie uses a hand to gently pick Lauren's head up off of her shoulder so that she can look her in the eye, "you've got me. No one can change that."

The doctor nods and swallows hard, before squeezing Tamsin's hands weakly and raising her head to address the room. What feels like hundreds of eyes are on her, waiting for the former ward of the Light, this newly christened sister of the valkyrie order, to decide which of the two sides she is going to align herself with.

"Well?", Evony asks, leaning forward slightly and looking quite anxious for the answer. "Which side will you name, Lauren?"

Looking to Bo, who has moved to stand with Hale and Dyson to the side of the room with her arms crossed and eyes focused on the scene before her, Lauren sends a small smile her way. Bo smiles back knowingly, and unsheathes the dagger on her thigh just in case as she goes to stand next to the doctor. Tamsin, slowly understanding what is about to happen, moves to Lauren's opposite side and places a protective hand at the small of her back. She gulps, loudly and nervously, as Lauren licks her lips and prepares to declare.

"I choose the freedom I never had. I choose _my side_." The doctor reaches down and takes one of Tamsin's shaking hands in her own. "I choose _humans_."


	8. Chapter 8

I busted out the first 7 chapters in like, .3 seconds flat and now I've hit a little wall. It's okay though, because I think I figured out where I want everything to go and how I want it all to get there so YAY. I can't promise any kind of regularity in the updates but I can promise that they will happen. ;)

Anyways I love you guys.

And if any of you are flailing as bad as I am about season 4 so far, it's okay. Remember when times were good. Maybe some day we'll go back there and every one and thing in the entire world will stop shitting on Lauren Lewis! Maybe copdoc will happen. Who knows. They're about as likely as each other at this point.

* * *

"You're _kidding_", Evony says, incredulous, glancing from Lauren – still flanked by Tamsin and Bo on either side – to where Hale is standing with a similar expression on his face. Her bodyguards seemed to flinch at the inflection of her voice, and even the largest of them gulped visibly. "_Please_ tell me she's kidding, Hale."

The siren gulps in turn, motioning subtlety for his own bodyguards to close ranks around him should The Morrigan react half as badly as she did last time a fae broke the norm and refused to name a side.

"I... don't think she's kidding."

"Oh, she's _definitely_ not kidding", Bo answers for the doctor, smirking. Tamsin can feel Lauren stiffen next to her as Evony clicks her tongue, and Hale exhales sharply from his nose.

Any sets of eyes that weren't already fixed on the tense scene playing out at the center of the room were certainly there now – everyone was glancing nervously from Lauren, Tamsin and Bo to The Morrigan, who was still standing poised with her hip cocked and arms crossed over her chest. If Evony is anything but calm, none of it shows on her face – the picture of serenity, the woman smiles in the group's direction before nodding tightly.

"Right. Well then congratulations, succubus; it seems you are no longer alone in your _terrible_ decision making. Tamsin", the Valkyrie looks her way while moving a fraction of an inch closer to Lauren, pressing her hand just the slightest bit more firmly into the small of her back, "come. We have... things to discuss."

"_What_?"

Evony's lips curl upwards into a seemingly sweet smile, but those who know better see the threat behind it. Still, she holds herself as nothing but casual, even when she opens her mouth again and poisoned-dipped words come out.

"You heard me. _Come_."

But Tamsin just moves closer to Lauren, who looks over to her girlfriend with a surprising calmness in her eyes. She uses the arm not clutching the valkyrie's sword to support herself to gently brush her fingers against Tamsin's flushed cheek, only to jerk her hand away when she sees the fresh blood she accidentally wiped there

"It's okay, Tamsin", she says quietly as she wipes at the red mark with broad strokes of her thumb. "Go."

"But... You need to go to the _hospital_, Lauren. And soon. I'm _not_ leaving you to fend for yourself while I get treated like her favorite_ pet_. _Again_."

The two regard each other seriously for a moment. Lauren licks her lips to speak again, but is wracked with coughs instead – moving far too sluggish to bring a hand up to cover it, a fresh trickle of blood comes from her mouth and both Bo and Tamsin suck in a breath at the sight of it.

"I'll take her", Bo offers. The succubus slowly extends a hand and takes the sword out of Lauren's vice grip, instead threading an arm under her's to support her weight. Lauren, happy for the strong woman's help, sighs as she leans a little heavier into Bo. "But we need to go soon. So make a decision."

Lauren, torn between not wanting Tamsin to leave her side and wanting to keep whatever precarious peace they have in tact for as long as possible, wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and turns her head to place a gentle kiss to the valkyrie's cheek. She nods in response, not trusting herself to speak anymore than Lauren does. Evony turns on her heel, smirking, and begins to make her way out of the building; Tamsin reluctantly follows, stopping at the doorway to send Bo a worried look over her shoulder.

"You better take good care of her, succuslut."

* * *

The limo ride back to The Morrigan's high-rise office did little more than grate Tamsin's nerves even more; Evony avoided all of the valkyrie's attempts to find out why she felt the need to drag her away from her seriously injured girlfriend, and instead insisted on humming the entire time. The soft noises she made were only broken up when she took long sips from her wine flute and sent sidelong glances in Tamsin's direction.

"Would you like some wine?", Evony finally says with a disarming smile, interrupting Tamsin mid-sentence and completely disregarding the dirty looks she is casting in her direction across the back of the limo.

"_No_."

The remainder of the ride is silent, with Tamsin checking her cellphone much more often than necessary to see if Bo had sent her any updates about Lauren's condition – she had received a text to let her know that they had arrived at the hospital, but hasn't heard anything since. Evony doesn't comment on her constant cellphone use, but does extend a firm hand to still the knee that the valkyrie was nervously shaking hard enough to shake the entire back of the limo. She leaves her hand there a second longer than Tamsin is comfortable with (not to say that she is ever comfortable with Evony touching her) but she pulls it back into her lap before the valkyrie decides to say anything.

When they finally arrive at The Morrigan's office, they are escorted by large men on either side through the building and up to the high-rise, where all twelve of them excuse themselves and leave just Evony and Tamsin standing in the large space. The Morrgian walks over to a small cooler next to the desk and pulls out yet another bottle of wine, then motions for Tamsin to sit. She takes a seat on the couch in the center of the room, as far away from the plush armchair that Evony herself has sat in.

"So", Tamsin begins as Evony takes her time filling up the wine flute she retrieved from the desk directly behind her chair, "I'm sure you have a really good reason from pulling me away from my _injured girlfriend_ after she kicked your test in the ass. Can we skip all these 'pleasantries' and get to _that_ part so I can leave?"

The Morrigan clicks her tongue, and takes a long sip from her glass. She licks her lips as she pulls it away, the quirk in her eyebrow signifying how much she enjoys that Tamsin looks at them and licks her own in response out of habit.

"Tamsin. Must you always be so _crass_? Perhaps I just wanted to have a chat with my favorite valkyrie."

"Bullshit."

"You're right. You're certainly not my favorite." Another sip. This time, Tamsin remembers to keep her eyes trained anything _but_ her lips. "But you have something I want. And I am not known for sharing. Or _patience_."

Tamsin leans forward and places her elbows on her knees, her head in her hands. She puts on the best shit-eating grin she can muster as she makes eye contact with the woman across the room from her.

"I'm not going to sleep with you."

"You know, if you keep bringing it up, I'm going to start thinking that _you_ want to sleep with _me_."

Huffing, the valkyrie leans back in her seat. On any other day – because this is certainly not the first time that Evony had called Tamsin into her office to dance around the subject with flirting – she would almost enjoy the banter. But today, her girlfriend is in the hospital with what Tamsin can only assume is a menagerie of serious injuries and she needs to be_ there _with _her_, and not _here_ bullshitting with the leader of the Dark fae for whatever reason.

"Listen. Normally I would be all for the back and forth with you here, but Lauren is really hurt. And I need to get out of here so I can be with her. I get it – you're crazy. You're sexy, sure. But you're crazy. So enlighten me on you're particular brand of crazy for today so I can get out of here."

The Morrigan pouts, crossing her arms over her chest and batting her eyelashes at the valkyrie in faux-sadness.

"That's not a very nice thing to say to your host, Tamsin."

"_Evony_."

"Oh _fine_. You're no fun today, you know that?" She uncrosses her arms, her faux-pout replaced with her usual cocky smirk. "I need Lauren to pick a side, Tamsin. At this point I don't even care _what_ side, as long as she _chooses_. If every fae that doesn't like the system decides to join her and that succubus in being unaligned we will have a fucking _mutiny_ on our hands."

"I can't _make_ her choose a side, Marquise. You know that."

"But you can _persuade_ her, can you not? I mean it's been a long time since I've been with a woman, but you seem like you could be particularly...", she leans forward, taking no effort to hide the way she rakes her eyes over every inch of the valkyrie's body, her dark eyes pausing at her chest before finally making their way back to Tamsin's own, "_convincing_, if need be."

"Did you just...?", Tamsin shakes her head, not sure where to begin processing what The Morrigan just hinted at. "You know what? Never mind. The answer is still _n_o."

"As hard as this is going to be for your to believe, and as hard as it is for me to say it, this _isn't_ about me. Something is coming, Tamsin. Something _nasty_. And we're going to need all the help we can get. Which means we need as many talented fae alive as possible. Which means _I_ need _Lauren_ alive. And without a side, she has no protect-"

"She has _me_."

Evony smiles again, as malicious as it is charming, and refills her wine flute. She offers Tamsin a glass, but she again declines, instead crossing her arms over her chest defensively and raising an eyebrow at The Morrigan as she takes her time taking a long sip.

"But are you _enough_?", she says finally, gently placing the glass next to her and folding her hands in her lap in a deceivingly civil manner. "Were you enough to protect her _before_?"

Before Tamsin can even wrap her tongue around a snarky reply, Evony picks up the black folder sitting behind her wine flute, slams it down on the coffee table separating her from the valkyrie loud enough to cause her to swallow her words, and then slides it across. Tamsin picks it up, eying The Morrigan carefully before opening it – and dropping her jaw as she sees what it contains. The folder is absolutely_ filled_ with pictures, pages upon pages of pictures. From _Valhalla_. Pictures of Lauren's battered body at the foot of Odin's throne, pictures of her lifeless body being carried by Brynja, pictures of Tamsin beating her sister... but more disturbing are the pictures in the back of the folder, all of Tamsin's apartment at some point after the attack on Lauren but obviously before Tamsin and Dyson had stumbled in. The valkyrie looks up from the folder wild-eyed and has to bite back a string of curses when she sees the smile still plastered on Evony's face.

"If you couldn't protect her from _this_, how can you protect her from every nasty _hungry_ thing out there that wants to have a _taste_?"

Tamsin looks away, biting the inside of her cheek. _Is she right?_

"She has Dyson, and Hale, and Kenzi." She struggles over the who else Lauren has to protect her, but knows that – as much as she wants to dislike her – the succubus has proven herself a loyal ally to the valkyrie herself, and a trustworthy friend to Lauren. "And she has _Bo_. They wouldn't let anything happen to her."

"Is that so?" Evony makes a noncommittal noise and retrieves her wine glass from the table next to her. She takes another long sip before pressing a button on the office intercom just behind her on the desk. She says nothing, but the door to her office opens almost immediately and a large man fills the doorway. "We shall see. When this nasty thing rears it's ugly face in our direction, I truly hope she's ready. I hope _you're_ ready."

The large man from the door way walks quietly to where Tamsin is sitting, completely betraying his massive size, and grabs her upper arm roughly to pull her out of the chair. He practically drags her to to door, and the last thing she hears before it is shut loudly behind her is The Morrigan chuckling.

"Good luck, Tamsin."


	9. Chapter 9

Finals week is a BITCH. And the ending to this was a BITCH to write - why I insist on dragging this out is beyond me! We're barely into the story at all. I'm lame. Tell me you still love me. Tell me I'm pretty. Tell me something.

I'm sorry. I'm losing it. I'm going to go study for my last final now.  
And by that I mean kind of sort of study and then give up and play Mass Effect.

K BYE ENJOY. 3

* * *

Tamsin attempted to storm back into Evony's office and demand some answers, but was promptly stopped at her door by the same large fae that had accompanied her to Lauren's Gathering. She sizes them up, trying to decide if it's worth attempting to doubt them, but realizes that they're sekhmets; Egyptian fae known for their massive size, their lion's tails, and – unfortunately for the valkyrie – their _unwavering_ willpower. Huffing, she turns on her heels and marches herself out of the high-rise office (but doesn't pass up the opportunity to 'accidentally' bump into several very expensive looking vases close to the door).

Sometime between her 'meeting' with Evony, her unsuccessful attempt to confront her, the time she wasted as she made her through the labyrinth of The Morrigan's building, and finally getting back down to the street, Tamsin's phone had died. Cussing loudly as she pulled it out of her jeans pocket and noticed the black screen, it took every last shred of patience in the valkyrie to resist the urge to throw her phone into the street (and if Lauren hadn't bought her this particular phone herself, and coupled it with a lecture about taking her anger out on her electronics, she would have tossed it into the traffic without a second thought). She took a calming breath as she scanned the busy road before her for a cab – she hails the first one she sees, practically shoving a man out of the way to get into it, and directs it to the hospital on the other side of town.

Tamsin threw a wad of cash at the driver and jumped out of the car (an action she will regret later, when she realizes she had a crumpled fifty in her jacket pocket as opposed to the twenty that she thought it was), then tore off in the direction of the hospital's entrance. Pushing her way through the large front doors, she ran straight to the front desk of the crowded main room and slammed her hand down on it to get the nurse's attention. She looked up, obviously startled, her voice shaking slightly as she spoke.

"C-can I help you?"

"I'm looking for a patient here. Lauren Lewis?" When the girl shakily shook her head 'no', the valkyrie had to actually bite back the curses on the tip of her tongue – tongue in teeth hard enough to draw blood. The last that she had heard from Bo was that Lauren had lost consciousness on her way to get an x-ray, and that was at least an hour ago, before her and Evony had even arrived at The Morrigan's high-rise office; needless to say, Tamsin's patience was beginning to dip into the negatives. If she didn't find Lauren soon, she is starting to think she might lose it. Taking a calming breath, however, (and trying to imagine what Lauren's face would look like if she knew what the valkyrie was thinking of doing to the hospital staff; she can practically see the way her eyebrows would knit together, the way her controlled and well-thought out words would roll off of her tongue as she tried to calm Tamsin down), she decided to try again. "Okay. Blonde? Kind of hot? Big ol' scratch on her arm? She came in about an hour ago with a slutty brunette?"

"I'm... I'm sorry. I haven't seen a... a 'kind of hot'–"

"Okay, she's not kind of hot. I lied. Let me try again. She's _really_ hot. You would _remember_ if you saw her walk in. And you would remember the slutty brunette, too."

She shakes her head at Tamsin again, and the valkyrie let's a slow breath out of her nose. ("_You don't have to scare the poor girl to death, Tamsin_", she can hear in Lauren's voice. "_She just wants to help you._")

"You have about thirty seconds to find her before I start to _really_ get upset."

The nurse, who's name badge read Jessica, was obviously human, and couldn't be more than 20 years old, begins to nervously tap away at her computer, presumably to find where in the large hospital Lauren currently is. Tamsin's patience was nonexistent before she even walked in the door, however, and she slams her hand down on the desk again; she gets the same result, the loud smack causing Jessica to jump in her seat.

"_Twenty seconds_, kiddo."

The nervous young woman nods quickly and returns to her keyboard, tapping away at it again. Before Tamsin can scare Jessica to death, or gives into her urge to jump the counter and find her girlfriend herself (through less than peaceful means), Dyson and Hale catch sight of her and rush over from their spot in the waiting room. (They had working cellphones, unlike the valkyrie, and headed straight to the hospital once they got word from Bo. Trick had advised the siren to sit this one out, as it might not look good for the Ash to be at the bedside of the newly unaligned fae, but he refused to listen – he had sat idly by enough where Lauren is concerned.)

"Tamsin!"

The valkyrie turns when she hears her name, sure that there isn't any other women in the hospital that share her namesake, and is happy when her eyes land on her scruffy partner. She abandons Jessica, who is still staring at her computer screen and sweating bullets, and practically runs into Dyson's outstretched arms.

"I never thought I would be so happy to see you, Marmaduke."

Hale steps from behind Dyson's massive body and pats the valkyrie's back.

"We thought we would save that desk from getting a beat down from you, lil' mama."

She smiles in the sirens direction as she pulls out of Dyson's embrace. Swallowing hard, she does her best to conceal the nervous shake on her voice. It's not something she can easily hide, however, especially from her partner, and he raises a concerned eyebrow in her direction as she wrings her shaking hands.

"Have you talked to Bo?" Tamsin looks back and forth between them, willing an answer. "Do you know where they are?"

Dyson reaches out and takes the valkyrie's hand in his own large one; it's unfamiliar, but not entirely uncomfortable, so Tamsin laces her fingers through the wolf's and is thankful for the comfort it brings her. Hale pats her back again, and starts walking towards the elevator.

"They're upstairs", Dyson says as they politely navigate the crowd (which is increasingly difficult for the valkyrie at the moment, who is glad Dyson is still holding her hand and keeping her from shoving every person who makes the mistake of getting too close). "Last I heard, they were taking Lauren to surgery."

That causes Tamsin to stop dead in her tracks, resulting in Dyson jerking back slightly and Hale slowing his pace.

"Surgery? Like... like _serious_ surgery?"

The siren shakes his head, and continues in the direction of the elevator. He presses the '_5_' button as the two detectives enter, and raises as eyebrow in their direction. It's odd to see Hale without a smirk, his somber expression catching both Tamsin and Dyson off guard.

"Is there any other kind?"

When the elevator doors open on the fifth floor, Tamsin attempts to fly out and in the direction of the small nurses station a short distance from them. Thankfully, Dyson's hand is still intertwined with hers, and causes her to jerk back immediately. She wants to be mad at the wolf for holding her back when she should be rushing around to find Lauren, but knows that he is only looking out for her – no one needs an angry valkyrie running around a _hospital_ of all places. A _human_ hospital, with no discernible fae in sight. The amount of death coming off of the building as a whole is already disorientating, without even taking into account the emotions raging inside Tamsin herself. Silently (and with her typical smirk to mask it) she thanks her partner for looking out for her (and all the poor nurses that dare get within arm's reach).

The three of them make their way to the nurses station at a reasonable pace, though Dyson and Tamsin stand back and let Hale do the talking. He ascertains from the nice women at the desk that Lauren was indeed in surgery, and wouldn't be out for several more hours. They also tell him, after some patented charming on Hale's part, that the woman that came in with the doctor was in the ICU waiting room just down the hall.

Tamsin leads the group towards the direction the succubus should still be in, dragging Dyson by the hand the entire time. When Bo sees them rounding the corner, she jumps out of her isolated seat in the corner of the room and rushes over to them.

"She's okay", she breathes out without waiting for anyone to ask. There are tears in her eyes, which worries Tamsin more than it should, but she takes Bo at her word and let's out a sigh of relief.

"She's okay?"

"She's _okay_. They're doing surgery on her arm now, she's got a nasty concussion and a few broken ribs, but she's okay. She'll_ be_ okay."

Finally the valkyrie drops Dyson's hand, and brings both of her own up to hide the few tears that sneak by. Bo immediately steps forward and wraps the blonde in a tight hug, surprising everyone. And then suddenly she's crying too, burying her head in Tamsin's shoulder, which only causes the valkyrie to cry harder. Dyson wraps his large arms around both women - the woman he loves, and the woman he trusts - and pulls them close. (Hale, unbeknownst to everyone else, snaps several pictures of the trio before excusing himself to call Kenzi like he had promised to do after The Gathering.)

"Your girl made it", he whispers as he kisses the top of each of their heads. Neither Tamsin or Bo knows who he's talking to, but neither of them seem to care as he gives them both a squeeze. "As if there was ever any doubt."

* * *

Lauren's surgery lasts almost two more hours, during which the group relocates to her small room in the hospital to wait for her. Hale finally got ahold of Kenzi, and she and Bo are chatting idly with him in the corner as Dyson and Tamsin waste time on their phones when a doctor still dressed in her scrubs comes in. All five of them look up at her at the same time when she pauses in the doorway; Tamsin can only imagine how the group of them must look to her, disheveled and dirty and in a general state of disarray in the cramped room. More than half of them still have Lauren's blood on them, Tamsin still wearing a faded smear of it on her cheek.

"Ms. Lewis is out of surgery." She scans the room with an eyebrow raised. "Is anyone here her next of kin?"

No one moves, but the gang all turn to look at Tamsin. She is as oblivious as always, looking at the doctor with her own eyebrow raised, as if waiting for someone else to say something.

"_Tamsin_", Bo says, a hint of scolding on her voice. She leans forward as Kenzi leans back, hiding a smirk behind her hand. The valkyrie turns to send her a look, eyebrows now knit together in confusion.

"What?"

"You're _kidding_." The succubus actually brings a hand up to her forehead; she is having a hard time believing that a fae as old and powerful as Tamsin can be so incredibly _dense_ sometimes. She uses her free hand to roughly push Tamsin out of her chair and force her to her feet. "Get your valkyrie butt up and go talk to the nice doctor before I _make you_ get up."

Tamsin still looks confused for a moment – it is not as if she has ever been anything close to someone's 'next of kin' in her long, long life – but slowly walks towards the doctor still standing awkwardly in the doorway of the room.

"I guess that would be me. I'm Tamsin, Lauren's girlfriend", she extends a hand, which the doctor accepts and shakes firmly with a soft smile. "How is she? She's fine, right? She'll be okay?"

"I'm Doctor Mason." The doctor releases the valkyrie's hand and smiles again. When she speaks, it is loud enough that the rest of the gang can hear her. "And she _will_ be fine. We repaired the severe break in her arm with a plate and several screws. We also stitched up several lacerations on the back of her head while she was under. I must say, however, Ms. Lewis is quite resilient. It took quite a bit of anesthetic to keep her under for the duration of the surgery – an almost... _inhuman_ amount."

Dyson and Hale glance at each other, suddenly concerned that Bo had decided to take Lauren to a mostly human hospital without so much as making arrangements with a fae contact or either alignment. Human physiology and fae physiology tended to vary quite a bit – Lauren was an expert in those differences, and would have been quite the asset if it wasn't _her_ that ended up needing the help – and that could result in some _very_ confused human doctors. Having a fae doctor in a hospital not only ensured that the fae needing medical attention would receive the best care available to their specific needs, but that any strange physiological differences would be kept under the radar of the human staff. Neither the wolf or the siren knew this Doctor Mason, however – for Hale, he knew that this was a potential political shit storm.

"Inhuman?", Dyson asks carefully as he stands. Hale pulls out his cellphone, ready to make a call should they end up needing to clean up a mess.

"Yes. _Inhuman_. Almost... almost _unbelievable_, really. It took almost three times the normal amount to get her under, and even more to keep her under. I'm just going to go finish my report on it now."

Bo shifts uncomfortably, and Tamsin mutters 'shit' under her breath as her partner comes up and places a gentle hand the doctor's arm.

"I'm sorry, ma'am." He does his best to sound gentle, not looking forward to what he might be forced to do. "I can't let you do that."

"Oh _please_, dog boy." Suddenly Dyson's hand is practically impaled by small spikes that seem to raise out of the doctor's skin; he yelps, pulling his hand back quickly and wiping the bleeding palm against his dark jeans. Hale releases a breath he wasn't even aware that he was holding, admittedly less concerned for his whimpering best friend than he should be. "Oh you're _fine_, you big baby. I'll get you a bandage, if you'd like." She turns again to face the group, and makes a show of retracting the spikes. They disappear into her arm much like how they appeared, leaving her looking just as human as any other. Tamsin, despite how she wants to be upset at the doctor for playing the group of them the way that she did, smiles to herself – _the doc is clever_. "I'm Geraldine. I work for the Morrigan."

"You're dark", Bo says flatly. Doctor Mason turns to look at her with a blank expression on her face.

"My my. _You're_ the smartest succubus I've ever met."

Tamsin interrupts Bo before she has the time to quip back. (Thankfully Kenzi is there to carefully pluck the dagger from Bo's hand before she can think too hard about that, either.) "Did Evony tell you we were coming?"

"No. _The Morrgian_", the doctor pauses, as if to accentuate that Tamsin referring to her by name was not something that was going to be tolerated in her presence, "did not, though I wish _someone_ would have. Next time something like this happens, give me a call _directly_ before you come in so I can be prepared. It would have been nice to know I was operating on a valkyrie before I scrubbed in. It's quite difficult to convince a room full of humans that all _three_ of the bone saws are faulty, and _that's_ why they aren't working." She waves her hand dismissively. "Regardless, they're just cleaning her up now. She'll be down in a few minutes."

Geraldine turns on her heel, and begins to walk out of the room, but stops and sends Tamsin a look before she ventures down the long hallway.

"Your girl is a tough one, valkyrie. With the amount of blood she lost and head trauma she came in with, it's hard to believe she made it out of her Gathering _alive_."


End file.
